WOW! A game-changer for sure!

[MSHappyCampers]

Polymer RV could be industry game changer

[Fred and Bonnie]

We shall see, won't be first "Revolutionary" RV to disappear into thin air.

Fred

[Old-Biscuit]

By the end of WWII, almost all high-performance aircraft were built using monocoque or semi-monocoque technique.

The use of monocoque extended into the realm of automobiles as unibody construction (body is integrated into a single unit with the chassis) starting in 1923 with the Lancia Lambda, but it didn't really take off until Nash Motors released their 600 in 1941.

Today, monocoque or unibody construction is so sophisticated in automobile manufacturing that the windshields often make a significant contribution to the structural strength of the vehicle.

The technique has also made a significant impact on architecture by allowing designers to eliminate load bearing walls and open up floor plans.

So why not a 'unibody' RV..........about time SOMETHING different was done.

[Fred and Bonnie]

In my earlier post I was thinking about this product.

http://https://blog.carbonfibergear....king-the-road/

It never made it to production and persons involved are entangled in legal proceedings.

Fred

[Steve Ownby]

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

By the end of WWII, almost all high-performance aircraft were built using monocoque or semi-monocoque technique.

The use of monocoque extended into the realm of automobiles as unibody construction (body is integrated into a single unit with the chassis) starting in 1923 with the Lancia Lambda, but it didn't really take off until Nash Motors released their 600 in 1941.

Today, monocoque or unibody construction is so sophisticated in automobile manufacturing that the windshields often make a significant contribution to the structural strength of the vehicle.

The technique has also made a significant impact on architecture by allowing designers to eliminate load bearing walls and open up floor plans.

So why not a 'unibody' RV..........about time SOMETHING different was done.

A number of manufacturers have used semi monocoque construction in their coaches. Newell and Foretravel still do. Foretravel in their top models. In years past, Country Coach and Monaco with their S Series chassis coaches. Sadly, this has passed with Monaco's current coaches and no one knows at this time if Country Coach, as part of Winnebago will keep their in house chassis.

[Cloud Dancer]

I would like to park it next to the tiny house that's for sale for $42,000. I betcha this one would sell quicker (after you explain all the features and advantages).

[Gary RVRoamer]

At the end of the day, it all boils down to price in the RV market. We all rattle on, deploring the lack of quality in nearly all RVs, but when we go shopping a few dollars lower price winds the largest share of buyers. It seems that it all about no much bling can we get for our $$ TODAY, and the heck with the long term. The RV manufacturers know that.

The most recent flop was Evergreen, whose lighter and superior wall construction was undeniable, yet they couldn't sell enough to make ends meet and had to begin to offer more standard construction units to get prices down. A death spiral that ended the company in just a few years.

I hope these guys can survive, but I'm not betting on them...

[swampdog2]

IT might last ! The time is right for the rv industry to move to the next step
Our children think different from us and they will buy this where some of us won't .If case you haven't heard our generation did everything wrong and a ALL plastic rv is just what they will embrace and that may be a good thing !

[TbearKline]

I've got to think a repair on the body would be very expensive or problematic to the integrity of the unit. I'm sure it's just me or our generation that would think about issues like this.

[nothermark]

Off hand I do not know what they are using but foam in place with skins on it is a well developed technology. That is what it sounds like with some fiber reinforcement probably for the skins. The problem is that it has to be done in a mold so knocking off different sizes on a small scale is expensive. OTOH if they pick several lengths and concentrate on them it could be a game changer for light weight towables.

[barmcd]

The 25' will sell for $35K--how does that compare to conventional construction? It sounds a lot higher.

[ctpres]

I find what they did not mention as benefits to be far more important. Insulation, noise transmission, long life surface finish, accident repair costs and bigger sizes stress damage on the road.

[Smitty77]

I retired from a fortune 100 aerospace company as a Staff Operations Architect Specialist. One my duties was on the integration of then new technologies into sustained production mode. (For example, when they rolled out filament winding composites, we had to develop systems and controls that allowed for dramatic variables in material usage.). Our Special Interest Group co-reported to the VP of R&D New Technologies and President on a quarterly basis. (Really cool for me, as I was in a smaller $1B a year company that still allowed employees to 'mustang' up based upon capabilities and performance. When we were gobbled up by the much larger corporation, I always enjoyed watching the Masters, PHD's, Engineers, etc. - that had great text book knowledge, but in many cases no concept of the realities of the business as a whole... I was often odd man out in groups, but served a purpose of sometimes inserting a slight bit of reality into group recommendations that went upstairs!).

This one group, allowed me access to developing technologies, some DARPA and other very cool things...

About 10-12 years ago, Nano Technology was evolving and moving in some areas out of the lab, and into prototype usage. That evolved to where we see some if now in every day to day products. (For RV'er's, we see things like Eagle One or Macquires Nano Waxes, as one example.). Battery development is in the transition phase from lab to prototype usage of nano tubes carbon batteries. Paints are including nano tech for instruments feeding, as well as solar power generation. One item was the formation of honeycomb cellular sized nano tubes that could be grown into growing assemblies. Sort of like a DNA code developed, that would be the mapping of how these super light weight and strong molecules would be formed into the target series of components and assemblies.

It is so exciting to see things from 10-12 years ago, rolling out into the light of day. Of course, I remember a mentor I had back in the mid 70's, just shaking his head when aerospace stopped using aluminum skin to mental frame riveted materials for say the engine cowlings... He looked as an assembly a 737 was changed from metal, to 'Some sort of cloth they roll out, and place in a shake & bake bag and cook!' into final configuration. (Adhesive Bonding and that oven was an Autoclave... But I chuckled at his description of the process.) The new adhesive bond cowlings were 80% lighter, 25 components compared to 280+ of the aluminum skinned earlier version, and 24 man hours compared to well over 1700 man hours when adding up to the total hours of all the smaller metal fabricated components that were assembled all together to form the panels... A real game changer for aerospace, not the first, as we all know - technology moves forward... (Today, instead of adhesive bonding, it's carbon fiber or filament winding mix to build certain parts of the cowlings/access panels/thrust reversers - so the beat goes on....).

This technology is flowing down to automobiles (Tesla as one example.) and as the costs go down on - this will continue to evolve into the RV'ing and Boating community. It's not if, it's when. And the driving force, will be when customers demand higher quality, more fuel efficiency, safer constructed RV's. And at the same time, be willing to pay the higher price. (In many ways, we consumers, looking for rock bottom prices, have driven out the few companies that had provided higher quality and component structures materials... I hope that mentality/culture, is shifting back to understanding that 'value' costs - and that higher quality yields longer and less problematic life cycles, and added safety.

Done with my memory lane on this one, and appreciated the link.

Best to all, have fun, be safe,
Smitty

[nothermark]

My guess is that the lighter weight units are aimed at folks who *do not* want a truck but want to pull a trailer with their Minivan or SUV. Total package cost may not be that different.